


Crisscrossed and Turned on Its Head

by donutsweeper



Category: Charmed (TV 1998)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Family, Gen, Identity Reveal, Trick Or Treat Prompts Challenge, Trick or Treat: Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-24 07:33:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21095762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/donutsweeper/pseuds/donutsweeper
Summary: Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes to turn the world on its head.A look at what might have happened if took Piper was a minute or two longer to walk into P3's office and save Chris from Bianca in "Chris-Crossed."





	Crisscrossed and Turned on Its Head

**Author's Note:**

  * For [klutzy_girl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/klutzy_girl/gifts).

> Familiar dialog borrowed from the episode.

"That is one bitchy whitelighter," Phoebe complained.

"You're telling me." 

"Hey, Piper," Paige suggested, "Why don't you go talk to the guilt machine over there?"

Piper sighed. She'd come here to have a drink or two and relax, not to waste time trying to convince Chris to have a life outside of researching demons and Whitelighter duties. After a deep breath she savored one more sip before slipping off her stool and heading through the crowd to the office.

As she opened the door she said, "Hey, Chris, you know all work and no… Hey!"

A demon or witch of some sort was attacking him; he was gasping and obviously in pain, pressed against the cabinet with her hand in his chest. When the woman turned, forming an energy ball in order to attack, Piper reacted immediately and quickly blew her up.

Meanwhile Chris, once he was no longer being held in place, slid down the wall like a marionette whose strings had been cut, only stopping when he hit the floor. "Thanks."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." But when Piper offered a hand to help him up, he'd barely gotten to his feet before dizziness seemed to overcome him and he staggered, bringing a shaky hand to his head. "Woah, I can't. What did she…"

"Let's get you back down." By grabbing his elbow she managed to take on a bit of his weight before his legs gave out completely and he crumpled to his knees.

"Jus' give me a sec… I'll…. I'll…." he murmured, sagging against her.

"That attack seems to have taken a lot out of you. I think we should get you off your feet, all right?" As soon as he nodded she helped him lie down and then called out, "Leo!"

Orbing in immediately, Leo knelt at Chris' side. "What happened?" 

"I don't know. When I came in a demon had him pinned to the wall and was infecting him or feeding off him or something. I blew her up but he collapsed right after."

"Feeding on him? Where?" 

"His chest. Here." 

When she reached over to show him the spot Chris batted her hand away, murmuring,"No, no, don't. Please." His eyes were open, but she wasn't sure he was actually seeing her, let alone responding to her.

"Shhh. It's okay, shhh." Grabbing his hand, she held it tightly, giving Leo the chance to unbutton his shirt which revealed a large, angry red welt. However, when Leo tried to examine it Chris shifted, as if he were trying to curl away and hide the wound. "Shhhh," Piper repeated, trying to soothe him. "Leo's going to heal you up and you'll be good as new in no time."

"No," Chris pleaded. "I'm not supposed to bother him. You said. You always said. He's too busy. His work. I can't…."

Her eyes met Leo's over Chris' prone figure, but he obviously didn't know what or who Chris was talking about any more than she did. "It's okay, Chris," she said, trying to reassure him, "It's okay. I promise you, Leo's not too busy to help you." With her free hand she tried to soothe him, stroking his hair and brushing it away from his forehead. "He's feverish," she explained to Leo, "he could be responding to anything. Anyone."

Leo reached over and began to heal Chris, or attempted to anyway, because nothing seemed to be happening. "It's not working."

"What do you mean, 'it's not working'?"

"I mean it's not working, he's not healing. Something's draining his powers and blocking mine. It's… like a virus."

"Well, that doesn't sound good. Okay, we can't stay here, not when we don't know who's after him. Orb him back to the manor; I'll get Phoebe and Paige and let them know what happened and we'll meet you there." She started to move away, but Chris tightened his grip on her hand, preventing her from letting go.

"Don't leave, not again," he begged, trying to sit up as he pulled her closer to him. "Please, mom, I gave up everything to come here and I'm trying, I've been trying so hard but I haven't figured out a way to save him. I couldn't save you, not then, but here? Now? If I save him now maybe you won't need saving then. You understand, don't you?"

She didn't. She really didn't, but now wasn't the time to try to figure out all of what he'd just said. "Don't worry, sweetie, I do," Piper assured him as she tried again to pry her hand out of his.

"You're not mad because I lied to Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige? I didn't want to, I just couldn't think of any other way. And now they hate me, just like dad. I'm sorry, mom. He's my brother and I love him. Despite everything Wyatt's done I love him…. I just... want to save him." Chris sank back, his hand going slack as he lost consciousness.

"Chris? What," Piper began before trailing off as she stared at Chris. Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige? Wyatt was his _brother? _ Looking at him now, it was obvious, how could they not have seen it? Halliwell eyes and Leo's chin. His hair, although darker, was just like the photos she'd seen of her father when he was young and Chris definitely had Gram's serious look down pat; he'd used it on all of them more times than she could count. It was hard to believe, to even begin to wrap her head around, but Chris was her son. Their son. "Leo?"

"I. I think he's telling the truth. Somehow he is our son. A son we… haven't had yet, but our son. And we're going to save him, Piper. I don't know how, not this minute, but we'll figure out what was done to him and we will save him." 

They orbed back to the manor, sending a quick text to Phoebe and Paige to meet them there. Leo went to the Book of Shadows and began looking through it to try to find out which demon had the bird symbol that Piper had seen on the wrist of the woman who'd attacked Chris. Piper, meanwhile, brought Wyatt up to the attic and set him in his playpen right next to Chris.

"I need your help, Wyatt. If anything happens, if anyone scary comes, I want you to bring up your force field and protect Chris for me, okay? Can you do that?"

Wyatt's force field flared to life around them for a moment before coming down. 

"Just like that." Piper kissed Wyatt on the top of the head. "Thank you," she said as crossed the room to where Leo was filling Paige and Phoebe in on what had happened and took over paging through the Book of Shadows.

"Wait, so you believe him? You really think that Chris is your," Paige gestured to Leo and Piper, "son? My nephew?"

"He's feverish, yes, but I don't think he was spouting nonsense. It was more like his usual defenses and barriers were down and he just seemed very ill, young, and painfully out of his depth. Besides, being our son makes sense if you think about it. Who else would—" 

"I found it!" Piper interrupted. "The woman who attacked Chris is a 'Phoenix.' She is apparently from a family of assassin witches—very elite, very powerful—who are all born with a distinctive birthmark, that of a phoenix, which symbolizes their rise from Salem's ashes. And, oh that's not good, according to this they're bounty hunters, which means even though I blew one of them up, there's probably a contract so they'll still be after him." 

Leo wrapped his arm around Piper's shoulders. "We'll keep him safe. He's got the Charmed Ones, an Elder and the Twice-Blessed Child protecting him. No Phoenix is going to have a chance to get to him again." 

"We need to figure out how to cure him and," Phoebe began before breaking off with a "woah" and kneeled down next to Chris, who was moving restlessly and muttering softly in his delirium.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Piper asked.

"Oh my god, he loves her."

"What? Who?"

"The one who did this to him. She broke his heart." Phoebe rested a hand on his leg for a moment before reaching into his pocket and pulled something out and then held it up so they could all see. "An engagement ring."

"Oh no, I killed his fiancé. What kind of mother am I?"

"Uh, the kind that saved her son's life? You said you walked in on her attacking him, right? What kind of mother would you be if you didn't try to protect your son from someone who was hurting him?" Paige, who had been studying the Phoenix family's entry in the Book, slammed it shut. "There's nothing in here that suggests they have any special powers, time traveling or otherwise, so it should be pretty easy to brew up some potions to have on hand to vanquish any others that come for him."

"Bianca," Chris cried out. "Bianca, don't!"

After feeling his forehead and then checking his pulse, Leo grimaced. "Whatever she did to him he's getting worse. His fever's up and he seems to be getting weaker."

"Well, that explains why I can sense things from him now." 

"It does?" Paige asked, "How?"

"Whatever it was she was doing when she had her hand in her chest, whether she was infecting him with something or taking something out, it's resulted in weakening his powers and strength to the point he can't block my empathy anymore. What if that was her plan? That instead of killing him she wanted to weaken him and make him vulnerable?"

"You might be right. Piper, how long was he in the office with her before you got there?" Leo asked.

"I don't know, maybe a minute? At most a minute and a half. Why, what are you thinking?"

"As much as I hate to say it, if she'd wanted him dead, she probably could have killed him in that amount of time, especially considering their history. He would have been surprised at seeing her here, now. It's unlikely he would have expected her to have traveled in time so she had the upper hand and someone with training like hers would have been able to use that to her full advantage. So we can assume the only reason she didn't kill him was because she didn't want to, that killing him wasn't what she'd been hired for. But, if she stripped him of his powers? That would seriously hinder his ability to do what he came here to do, to protect Wyatt."

"This isn't a typical response to having your power stripped though, is it?" Paige asked. 

"When it's done through taking a potion, no. But maybe he's responding the way he is because she was draining them instead—physically pulling his powers out of him—and didn't get a chance to finish because I interrupted her."

Without warning someone shimmered into the attic. Wyatt's force field went up immediately, protecting him and Chris, and Piper reacted just as quickly and blew up the intruder. "Wait, that was the Phoenix that attacked Chris at P3! How— "

There was a sudden breeze and with a swirling helix of magic the woman reformed. 

"Well, that would explain it." Paige said, stepping up next to her sisters. "You must be the fiancé, Bianca."

"How did you," Bianca began, but trailed off when Phoebe held up the engagement ring. "Oh. He kept it?"

"Of course he did, he loves you. I can sense it since he's too weak to hide it now, but you knew that and you used it against him. He would have been so surprised seeing you at P3 that it left him open to an easy attack but Piper interrupted you so you had to come here to finish the job."

"Yes, I came here to finish the job, but I didn't come here to kill him."

"Right, you expect us to be believe that?" Paige snorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring at Bianca.

"Think about it. Coming after someone under your protection here when all of you were expecting an attack? That would be suicide."

"Plenty have attempted it in the past," Leo pointed out.

"Not anyone familiar with the Charmed Ones, their legacy, or their history. And definitely not someone who's done decades of research about them. Give me a little more credit than that." Bianca's attention faltered for a moment when Chris began shaking and his breathing became rougher but after taking a deep breath she continued, "You stopped me while I was in the process of stripping him of his powers. _That's _what I came back in time to do, not kill him. And if I don't finish what I started he will die."

"We won't let that happen." 

Bianca shook her head at Piper's assertion. "How? I'm sure Leo has already tried to heal him and that didn't work, did it?" Without waiting for a response, she added, "You can kill me, or at least do your best to try, but you'll only be making it worse for him. Think of it like an infection and I'm the only one with an antidote. The process that I started? Without someone to give it a direction, a goal, and to stop it when it completes what it was supposed to do, it'll just… keep going and it won't stop until it's not only drained his powers, but his life as well."

"You can't want that for him. You love him, just like he loves you. I don't even need my powers to know that, all I need to do is look at you."

"Phoebe's right," Piper said slowly, carefully. "I think you do love him and I don't think you were lying when you said that didn't you came back in time to kill him. If that had been your intention you could have just hidden in the office and stabbed him the minute he walked in the door. You were there to confront him and strip him of his powers, weren't you? Why? What were you going to do then?"

"What I'd been hired to do."

"Look lady," Paige stepped closer, her voice growing cold as she spoke, "You claim to be familiar with us but there is no way—"

"I am _more _than familiar with you, Paige. Let's see, judging from Wyatt's age I'm guessing you're still with the temp agency? Have they placed you in the middle of the feud between the Montanas and Callaways yet?"

"What? How did you—"

"And Phoebe, how's Jason? If you haven't begun those Cantonese lessons yet you might want to start them soon. Supposedly it's very helpful to know when navigating around Hong Kong."

Piper held up her hand. "Okay, okay, you've proved your point, you know us. But you still haven't answered my question. Why drain his powers? What were you going to do to him next?"

For a moment Bianca looked like she might not answer but then she sighed. "I'm supposed to take him back. If I don't, if I fail, the person who hired me will just hire someone else. And if they fail he'll send another person and then another and another and eventually all they're going to be hired to do is bring back is a body. This is Chris' only chance at living. _I _am his only chance. And you know what? It doesn't matter if you believe me about whether that might happen or not, what matters is that right now? He is dying." 

Piper spun around. Bianca was right, Chris had gone frighteningly still. "Wyatt, drop your force field," she cried and the second it was down she rushed to Chris' side. "He's barely breathing."

Leo knelt next to her and began trying to heal him again, but it did nothing. "Come on, Chris."

"If you want him to live," Bianca said softly, almost pleadingly, "you have to let me help him." 

"By stripping his powers and taking him away?" Piper shook her head. "That's not going to happen. Chris is staying here, with us. We won't let you take him." 

Phoebe looked from Bianca to Chris and back again. "I think she genuinely wants to help him but that doesn't mean we have to let her take him anywhere. What if we let her finish stripping his powers but then write a spell to make sure they're returned to him the minute he's strong enough to have them back?"

'Would that work? Do you really think we can trust her?" Paige asked hesitantly. 

"We don't have a choice. She's right. Leo can't heal him and he's… he's dying." Piper grabbed Leo's hand as she stood up and held it tightly as she approached Bianca. "You are going to finish what you started but know this—no matter how strong, how fast, how clever you think you are—if you kill him, you won't leave this attic alive."

In a few minutes they were ready, the three sisters had armed themselves with vanquishing potions and flanked Bianca, ready to attack if anything went wrong, while Leo picked up Wyatt and held him pressed against his chest so he couldn't see what she was doing. Bianca was kneeling next to Chris, her hand in his chest with a soft light was shining from the spot as she worked. 

"That's it, just let me finish what I started. You'll feel better soon. I promise." Chris began shaking, seizing, and Piper was about to hurl one of the potions when he suddenly settled. "That's it," Bianca murmured as she pulled her hand out. "You're okay, easy does it. Slow breaths now."

Chris came around slowly, blinking up at Bianca and smiling softly for a moment before his face suddenly shifted and he seemed to come back to himself. "Bianca! What. We're in the manor? What happened? What did you do to me?"

"I just saved your life. I took away your powers, but I saved your life."

Sitting up, Chris turned to the Charmed Ones and Leo. "You let her do that?" 

"You don't understand," Leo began, but Chris interrupted him before he could explain further.

"I don't understand what, that you're working with her now? Do you even know who she is? Where she's from? Why she came here?"

"We didn't have a choice, Chris." Piper stepped towards Chris, but he jumped to his feet and skittered out of her reach. "Once she'd started the process we had to let her finish it or it would have killed you."

"I may as well be dead if I don't have my powers!"

"Don't say that! Don't ever think that! Chris, please, understand, letting her strip your powers wasn't a decision that came easily to us but we agreed to it because we couldn't let you die. But we weren't working with her. In fact," Piper showed him the potion in her hand, "we were ready to vanquish her if it looked like she was hurting you. And we still can, if you want us to."

"Vanquish her?" 

All three of the Charmed Ones nodded with Paige gesturing with her own bottle of the potion, adding, "Just say the word."

"No," Chris said softly, shaking his head. "She's my. I mean, she was. We were."

"She was your fiancé, we know. When you were dying you weren't able to block me anymore and I sensed it from you," Phoebe explained, holding up the ring and offered it back. "I know you love her, but she used that love against you in order to get close enough to you to hurt you."

Grabbing the ring, Chris shoved it into his pocket. "That's why he sent you here, isn't it, Bianca? He knew…somehow he knew I turned you and he got to you and turned you back."

"He didn't turn me back! I didn't want to hurt you, Chris, but he has the spell and it doesn't just go backwards in time anymore. He altered it so it'll work both ways and he was demanding you be brought back to pay for your betrayal. I figured if I made him think I'd gone back to his side then he'd send me and at least I could ensure you were alive when you had to face him."

"Who's _him?_" Paige asked when Bianca paused.

"We can't tell you that," Chris said quickly before addressing Bianca again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you. You're right, we can't let him keep that spell. It's too powerful; if he has it, he'll use it and who knows how much worse he can make things as a result."

"If he thinks I brought you back willingly he might let you close enough to the Book to take it," Bianca suggested.

"Oh no, no way." Piper held up her hand. "You don't even have your powers! There is no way—"

"Right. My powers—which you let her take, don't think I've forgotten about that. We'll have to write a spell that will give me them back. That was what you guys were planning to do anyway, right? So we write it but I wait to cast it until I'm there since I'm pretty sure he'll be able to tell if I have them or when I first return and if he senses them he'll won't react well. But, if he thinks Bianca stripped my powers and dragged me back? He might let his guard down enough for me to give me a chance to cast it and get my powers back. Then I just have to get to the Book and destroy the time travel spell."

"Destroy it? But then you'll be stuck in the future," Leo pointed out. "What about Wyatt? We still don't know who's going to come after him."

"We… might not be stuck there. Not if we play our cards right. Think about it, Chris, he won't see us as a threat. He thinks he turned me and he'll assume I talked some sense into you, so he'll probably dismiss his guards and then it'll be two against one. Which still doesn't even the odds, but with surprise on our side?" Bianca shrugged. "We just might make it work. If can get behind him I can hold him with my power draining spell. I won't be able to keep it going for long, but all we'd need is enough time for you to cast the spell to return your powers and then find the time travel spell in the Book. The Triquetra should still be on the wall so it should activate as soon as you cast it." 

"That could work, he certainly won't be expecting it. You'll have to come back here with me though, if you stay there he'll kill you for betraying him." Chris turned to the Charmed Ones. "Will you be okay with that? You won't try to vanquish her?"

"No, we won't. Not now that we know that not only the reason she attacked you was to try to save you, but also that she's your fiancé and that you're our fam—" 

Piper spoke over Phoebe, trying to prevent them from revealing what they'd learned about him by saying, "And we know how much you gave up to try to change the future to save our family. To save Wyatt." 

Chris' eyes narrowed as he looked from Piper to Phoebe and then the others but if he sensed his secret was out he chose not to confront them about it. 

After a moment of awkward silence Paige said, "I'm going to go write that spell to get you your powers back. Phoebe, why don't you help me." Grabbing Phoebe's hand, Paige tugged her over to the table before she had a chance to say another word.

"I'll get started on the Triquetra," Bianca said as she pulled out a piece of chalk and began clearing a convenient section of wall.

"Your plan is really risky, Chris. If this… person you'll be confronting is really as dangerous as you and Bianca say," Leo trailed off, "I just wish there was more we could do from here."

"That almost sounded supportive. Wow, that's quite a change, coming from you," Chris said, but there was no heat to his words and he had the slightest of smiles on his face. 

"Sometimes it's easy to overlook all that you do for us and how much you gave up to come here. After today, I don't think I'll be able to do that ever again." Leo looked down at Wyatt and shifted him, holding him even tighter. "I'm sorry I ever dismissed you and everything you've done to try to protect and save Wyatt. There's no way we can thank you enough for that." 

"We really can't," Piper added. "Having a child… all you want is for them to be happy, healthy and for no harm to ever come to them. With our lives what they are though, that's far from a guarantee, no matter how we wish that weren't the case. So thank you, Chris. Really, thank you."

"I," Chris began, seemingly overcome by their words, "I was just trying to do what I thought was right, what had to be done, but you're welcome." 

"Okay, it's done!" Paige and Phoebe ran over and thrust a ripped piece of paper at Chris.

Skimming it briefly, Chris commented, "This is good. This should work."

"Then we're good to go." Bianca held out her hand. Chris stepped forward and took it, interlocking their fingers. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Looking over his shoulder at Piper and the others he said, "We'll be back before you know it."

Bianca waved her arm and the Triquetra activated, flaring to life. Hand-in-hand they step through and disappeared.

"Oh, god," Piper gasped, putting her hands over her mouth. "What if it doesn't work? What if we never see him again? We should have said something. Should we have said something?"

"Finding out we knew would only have distracted him," Leo said, passing her Wyatt to hold and then hugging the two of them. "You were right to stop Phoebe from saying anything. The sort of fight they were talking about? He needs to be focused. We just need to believe in him. We'll see him again. I have faith. I just know we will."


End file.
